4

The manga Yotsuba&! is a story about a little girl named Yotsuba. So, the title using her name makes sense, but why is there an additional '&' at the end?

enter image description here

This is the manga cover in English. It says Yotsuba&! and sometimes it's written Yotsubato! on some sites.

senshin
  • 35,088
  • 25
  • 142
  • 247
Darjeeling
  • 19,125
  • 46
  • 122
  • 229

1 Answers1

5

Well, to (と) is a Japanese particle that functions like English "and". If, for example, you wanted to say "Yotsuba & Tanaka", that would be Yotsuba-to Tanaka (よつばと田中).

So I suppose it makes sense that one might choose to write Yotsuba-to! as "Yotsuba&!".

As for why the title is "Yotsuba&!" / Yotsubato in the first place - I suppose it's related to the fact that all the chapter titles are of the form "Yotsuba & [something]", e.g. "Yotsuba & the Elephant" (#19) and "Yotsuba & Coffee" (#58).

senshin
  • 35,088
  • 25
  • 142
  • 247
  • but it still doesn't make sense, why the title is 'yotsuba and'? – Darjeeling May 28 '14 at 19:45
  • 1
    @ShinobuOshino Oh, I guess that's because all the chapter titles are of the form "Yotsuba and [something]". – senshin May 28 '14 at 19:49
  • it's so that the name hints at the genre. "Someone and…" has been heavily used in naming works of a similar genre over the years, and the consumers know what to expect from a work with such name – Hakase May 28 '14 at 19:53